


Glasswalk

by TheSongOfTime777



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: Canon - Anime, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23830216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSongOfTime777/pseuds/TheSongOfTime777
Summary: Why did he keep hearing Marie’s voice through the static, calling his name?
Relationships: Marie Mjolnir/Franken Stein
Comments: 4
Kudos: 30





	Glasswalk

**Author's Note:**

> An interpretation of the events during and following the scene in the tomb (Episodes 44-45, some references to Episode 41). Song lyrics are from "Glasswalk" by Bury Tomorrow.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 _I've seen the light at the end of the walk_  
 _These steps lead through the dark_  
 _Here now I stand, this chance in hand_  
 _To be the only one to hold on to, follow you_  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The noise in his head was so loud. Why was it so loud? Why couldn’t he understand what the voices were saying? Why wouldn’t the noise stop? Wasn’t there any way to make it stop? Maybe she was right. Maybe he did need to destroy it. Maybe that was the only way…

Why did he keep hearing Marie’s voice through the static, calling his name? She was dead. Gone forever. He had seen her lying in a crumpled heap on the ground outside of the lab, her body - normally so full of life and energy - motionless and unnervingly still. Marie. Dead. His fault. Why did she have to die? She was the only one who…

While his mind was lost to the madness, his body was operating on autopilot, fighting off attackers that he couldn’t identify. He vaguely registered someone’s rage-fueled screams echoing throughout the tomb, loud enough to be heard even over the static in his head. He thought he recognized them… Maybe… Maybe not. But why was it so loud inside his head? All he could focus on was the noise and trying to destroy it. Apparently, that was the only way. He just wanted it to stop.

“Stein?” he thought he heard someone call, their voice surprisingly clear through the cacophony in his head.

“Who is that? Whoever you are... Please do something," he said, brokenly. "Stop this noise inside my head. I can’t do it. Is destroying it the only way? She said it couldn’t be fixed. What choice do I have? It has to stop.”

“There’s no need to fix anything, or destroy it either,” he heard the voice say from behind him. It had such a pleasant sound. “Just accept it as part of you.”

As soon as they finished speaking, the noise in his head… stopped. He slowly removed his hands from his ears and raised his head, listening. Only silence, sweet silence, greeted him. “It finally stopped,” he said.

“Now try, try very hard to picture it, the place you’re supposed to be.” He turned around and saw a petite blonde woman standing – no floating – before him, her hand outstretched toward him. She seemed familiar, her skin glowing a pale-yellow color. She was the most beautiful sight he could ever recall seeing. “I know you can do it, if you try,” she said, her left eye starting to glow even brighter than the rest of her.

He placed his hand in hers. Suddenly everything was bright, and he felt a familiar embrace catch him as he fell forward. He would know her anywhere. He sighed her name. “Marie...”

He felt Marie’s arms tighten around him. “Welcome back, Stein. You’re home,” she said.

And he was, really. He wasn’t sure when he had started associating “Marie” with “home,” but there was no use trying to deny it. However, now was not the time to analyze what his feelings for his weapon meant, as he heard Maka deflect an attack from Medusa behind his back. He pulled back from Marie’s embrace and stood up.

“Seems I’ve caused you a lot of trouble lately,” he said, his head down.

“Yeah,” Marie replied, “thanks to you I have a whole new set of wrinkles.” She held her hand out, his glasses resting in her palm. “Now that you’re back, maybe you can help us?” For a moment he stared at the object in her hand, then grabbed the glasses and placed them on his face. “Well Stein, can you?”

“Yes, let’s do it.”

Without another word, Marie changed into her weapon form. Her handle felt cool in the palm of his hand. His mind felt clear for the first time in months. Grasping his weapon, he angled his body so that Marie’s form was behind him, then instructed Maka to focus on Medusa, reassuring her that Crona would be fine. Using Resonance Link, he told Maka to use her Genie Hunter attack when there was an opening, then he leapt at Medusa. He chased after the witch, repeatedly swinging Marie at her, easily dodging and deflecting Medusa’s attacks.

“Marie!”

“Right!” Marie started glowing in his hand.

“That’s your big plan?” Medusa scoffed. “You’ll never drive me out of this body using that old trick.”

“Don’t be so sure,” he replied, leaping at the witch and swinging.

“No matter what special wavelength you have, it only works if you hit me,” Medusa replied, leaping backwards away from him.

“There’s someone else here with a special wavelength. You should look behind you,” he said.

Suddenly Maka leapt in the air. “Medusa!” she yelled, swinging her scythe upwards, the shape of Soul’s blade changing and glowing. She swung the Genie Hunter forward in an arc. Medusa tried to dodge but it was to no avail - the attack met its target and Medusa was forced out of Rachel’s body before disintegrating in front of their eyes.

Stein felt nothing as he watched Medusa’s face disappear, her voice fading with her final warning that Genie Hunter wouldn’t be enough to defeat the Kishin. “It’s over,” he said.

...

When they left the tomb later, Marie and Stein carrying Rachel and Crona, they parted ways with Maka and Soul, who rushed ahead to get back to the battle against Arachnophobia and the Kishin. The sun was already beginning to set, so they walked only for a couple of hours before finding a place to camp for the night. Stein checked on Crona and Rachel, then walked over and sat next to Marie, who had settled by the campfire. She looked up at him as he sat down, giving him a tired but warm smile. Her eye shone brightly in the light of the campfire.

“Marie, I ...” he hesitated. There was so much that he wanted to say, to tell her, and yet he didn’t think that he could find the words to convey his thoughts properly. To express his gratitude, his relief, and, yes, his affection for the woman next to him. No, nothing that he could say would be adequate enough.

And Marie, who knew him better than anyone else, probably better than he knew himself most of the time, noticed his internal struggle. She placed her hand on top of his. Still smiling, her eye met his and she said simply, “I know.” His eyes widened. Without another thought, he leaned over and pressed his lips against hers.

If he had any doubts that his actions might unwelcome, they were dispelled when she responded immediately, humming with surprise and pleasure. When she brought her hand up to his cheek, her thumb softly stroking the long scar that ran from his forehead down to his ear. When she kissed him back, her lips moving against his, tasting of honey and sweetness and something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He brought his hand up and ran it through her hair, the golden strands sliding through his fingers as his fingertips caressed the back of her head and neck. As his lips caressed hers, he tried to impart all of the thoughts and emotions that his brain had failed to find words for. To tell her “ _thank you for saving me,_ ” and “ _you are so important to me,_ ” and “ _I have never felt more happy and alive than I do right now._ ” Nothing seemed to exist outside of the two of them.

But, alas, that was not true. As much as he could, and would, have kissed Marie for hours, in the back of his mind he remembered that they were technically not alone. That the two of them were responsible for the well-being of the children who were sleeping just a few yards away. Children who probably shouldn’t wake up to the sight of them kissing. So eventually, regretfully, he pulled away just far enough to break the kiss, his eyes still closed, his hand still in her hair. When he opened his eyes, he saw Marie smiling radiantly, her cheeks flushed pink.

He smiled at her in return, one of his rare genuine smiles that so few people got to experience. “Thank you, Marie,” he said simply.


End file.
